Cotton-picking needle.



B. JOHNSON.

COTTON PICKING NEEDLE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT; I3. 1916.

Patented June 19, 1917.

Inventor Witnesses Attorneys BILLIE JOHNSON, OF TEMPLE, TEXAS.

COT TON-PICKING NEEDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 19, 1917.

Application filed October 13, 1916. Serial No. 125,444.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BILLIE JoI-rNsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Temple, in the county of Bell and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Cotton-Picking Needle, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for picking cotton and more particularly to a novel form of picking needle especially designed for use in connection with a picking machine of that type shown for example in my co-pending application Serial Number 93,189.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a picking needle having a novel arrangement of teeth whereby only the cotton fibers will be picked, the hulls, leaves and other undesirable growths being repelled so as not to be carried into the machine by the needles.

A further object is to provide a picking needle which will not exert a cutting action but will merely act to engage the fibers and pull them from the bolls, there being a guard of peculiar construction combined with the teeth for preventing the cotton from being stripped prematurely from the needle.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the in vention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the prefer-red form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of a portion of a machine having the present improvements combined therewith.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation of a picking needle embodying the present improvements.

Fig. 3 is another view of the picking needle looking at right angles to Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a-section on line 4lt Fig. 3.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 and 2 designate portions of a cotton picking machine structure and which portions constitute supports for bearings 3 and 1 arranged in pairs. Journaled within each bearing 3 is the reduced end 5 of a to bular guide 6 and which guide has opposed longitudinal. slots 7 therein. Gears 8 may be connected to these reduced ends of the tubular member or guide, these gears meshing as shown so that motion is transmitted to all of the guides simultaneously. Each guide is also formed with an elongated reduced extension or finger '9 mounted within a bearing 4:,this finger being formed with a rounded free end 10 in which is provided an opening 11 adapted to receive the picking needle. A slide 12 is mounted for reciprocation within each of the guides 6 and has trunnions 13 extending through the slots 7. These trunnions bear within rings let mounted for rotation in an actuating frame 15 which is adapted to be reciprocated in any suitable manner, not shown, without interfering with the rotation of the guides.

' Detachably engaging one end of each of the slides 12 is the threaded stem 16 of a picking needle 17. This needle includes an elongated cylindrical body portion 18 from the outer end of which extends an elongated tongue 19 formed by cutting away opposed portions of the needle. The tongue is slotted longitudinally as at 20, the slot extending into the cylindrical portion 18. Those faces of the tongue at opposite sides of the slot are straight from end to end but are extended transversely along the lines of ogee curves as shown particularly in Fig. 4. Thus the tongue is formed with opposed transversely convexed faces 21 and opposed faces which are curved transversely along the lines of double ogee curves. Where the curved faces of the tongue meet the faces 21 stripping edges 22 are provided. The recesses formed between these stripping edges and theslots 20 and which recesses have been indicated at 23 provide pockets for holding considerable amounts of cotton fiber during the picking operation.

Seated within and extending longitudinally of the slot 20 is a blade 24 having opposed longitudinal series of teeth 25. The points of the teeth of each series are disposed in line with the periphery of the body portion 18 of the needle and all of the teeth are abruptly curved forwardly toward the free end of the tongue. The end portion of the blade 24 terminates in a disk-shaped guard 26 which is substantially circular and which has a portion of its periphery in register with the rounded end of the tongue 19. The diameter of this disk is equal to the diameter of the body 18. The blade may be held in place in the tongue in any desired manner, as by means of rivets 27.

It is to be understood that during the rotation of the guides 6 and the consequent rotation of the needles, the frame 15 is to be reciprocated on the guides thus to cause the needles to be projected outwardly beyond the fingers 9 and to then be retracted. Each time the rotating needles are thrust outwardly into a cotton plant, the rounded surfaces 21 of the tongue will serve to pre vent leaves, hulls and the like from coming into contact with the points of the teeth 25 and, consequently, only the fibers of the cotton will be engaged by the teeth. This engagement, which takes place during the outward thrust of the needles will cause the engaged fibers to move inwardly against the faces 23 of the tongue, the longitudinal recesses in the tongue affording considerable space for the accumulation of the cotton fiber. The disk 26 acts as guard to prevent the end teeth from cutting into the plants or becoming tangled therewith. During the longitudinal movement of the needles away from the plants this guard 26 will prevent the fibers from pulling off of the teeth 25 and the teeth, by reason of their peculiar configuration, will slip readily past any growths with which they may come into contact during such movement. The strip-- ping edges 22 assist the teeth in pulling the cotton fiber from the bur during the rotation of the needle.

Obviously as the needle is drawn back into the finger 9 the fibers engaged by the teeth will be pushed off of the teeth and thus drop from the machine or into a suitable receiver provided therefor.

What is claimed is 1. A needle for cotton picking machines, including a tongue having opposed convex faces describing portions of a cylindrical surface concentric with the longitudinal axis of the tongue, there being a longitudinal slot extending through the tongue and between said faces, and a blade secured within the slot and having opposed series of teeth curved toward the free end of the tongue and having their terminals in the cylindrical surface of the convex faces of the tongue,

there being a guard disk at that end of the blade within the free end portion of thetongue, the diameter of the disk being equal to the greatest diameter of the tongue;

2. In a cotton picking machine, a picking needle including a cylindrical body, a tongue extending therefrom, there being a longitudinal slot within the tongue, a blade secured within the slot and having .opposed series of teeth curved in the direction of the free end of the tongue, the points of the teeth being flush With the surface of the'body Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the =fCommissioner of Patents,

portion of the needle, and a guard within the free end portion of the tongue and of a diameter equal to the diameter of the body.

3. In a cotton picking machine, a picking needle including a cylindrical body, a tongue extending therefrom, there being a longitudinal slot within the tongue, a blade secured Within the slot and having opposed series of teeth curved in the direction ofthe free end of the tongue, the points of the teeth being fiush with the circumference of the body portion of the needle, and a guard within the free end portion of the tongue and of a diameter equal to the diameter of the body, those portions of the tongue at opposite sides of the series of teeth being shaped transversely to define agee curves.

at. A needle for cotton picking machines including a cylindrical body, a tongue projecting from one end of the body and having its opposed faces flush with the ci.rcumfer ence of the body, said tongue having a 1ongitudinal slot therein, a blade secured in the slot and-having oppositely extending series of teeth, the teeth of each series being ing their points in line with the periphery of the body, and a guard at the free end of the tongue and of adiameter equal to the body.

6. In a cotton picking machine, a needle including a cylindrical body having a tongue, there being a longitudinal slot within the tongue, oppositely extending series of curved teeth carried by the tongue and having their points in line with the periphery of the body, and a guard at the free end of the tongue and of a diameter equal to the body, there being longitudinal recesses Within the tongue at the sides of each series of teeth, the bottoms of the recesses and the sides of the tongue cooperating to form longitudinal stripping edges.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto-affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

BILLIE JOHNSON.

Washington, D. 0. 

